Howard, PA 16856 Frost Dates
Frost dates for Howard, PA, ZIP 16856
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 04/20, roughly 235 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 10/26, about 187 frost-free days later.
Howard sits in USDA Zone 6b (-5 to 0°F average annual minimum). The dates above are NOAA's 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting station, a 30-year average, not a forecast.
What to do before the first frost
Zone 6b around Howard has about 8 weeks left before the first fall frost — that's the usual window to get a cold frame up if you want to keep harvesting past it.
The actual range around Howard's last frost
04/20 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/07 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/06 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Howard compares
About 187 days separate Howard's last and first frost, putting it 22,524 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within PA, it ranks 617 of 2,088.
Learn more
the frost range explains how to read the range around Howard's dates instead of trusting one, and local microclimates explains what one yard in Howard can differ from the 16856 normal.